From a grammar school in Yorkshire she wins her Cambridge place;She doesn’t speak the same as them and no-one knows her face.While others have done gap years Jo hasn’t been away,Packed toothpaste in the factory where her dad works every day.But as a lonely student in that chilly eastern townShe vows to make a difference, she won’t be backing down.

She worked as a researcher, in NGOs, in aid;Cheap medicine, casualties of war, the laws controlling trade.In a myriad of settings, the message is the same:We must protect the vulnerable, it’s justice that we claim.In Darfur, in Colombia, she’s energy to burn,A Westerner who listens, who’s not afraid to learn.The powers that be imagine that this girl is no big deal -She’s tiny and she’s charming, but she’s also made of steel.

Ten years confronting heartbreak, some changes she can seeBut now the biggest challenge; she’ll stand as an MP.She’ll represent constituents, she’ll fight to right their wrongsAnd it has to be in Batley, the place where she belongs.At first there’s some suspicion. From Cambridge? What’s the fuss?But then a wave of warm relief – this girl is one of us.She greets the market traders, the women’s rugby team;We do belong together, it isn’t just a dream.Jo Cox is not a robot, she’s a mother and a wife,A friend who likes to party, with an appetite for life.

She’s been a year in Parliament, she’s got them on the runAsks questions, gathers allies, above all, gets things done.Yes, Syria is our business, it’s vital that we care;The issues that divide us are less than what we share.Some say she’ll be a minister – demanding, canny, boldBut then the referendum puts everything on hold.

The campaign’s getting nasty, there’s poison in the airAnd some of it is lodging in the head of Thomas Mair.God knows just what he’s thinking as he’s lying there in waitBut she’s the perfect target, the love he has to hate.In Parliament the tributes suggest she got it right –Two roses on her usual seat: red Labour, Yorkshire white.Jo’s voice was cruelly silenced, her chance for change has goneSo it’s up to us to take it, to see her work goes on.